Graduates Seek Future In U.s. Jobs

Washington — Citigroup Inc. has a new rival as it tries to recruit graduates from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies: the U.S. government.

The Central Intelligence Agency drew 80 students during a recent recruiting stop at the university's school.

That was twice the usual turnout for the spy agency and it matched the crowd assembled for Citigroup, the largest U.S. financial services firm.

A recession and renewed calls to public service since the September terrorist attacks are boosting interest in federal jobs and attendance at schools offering degrees in government and international affairs.

"There used to be a perception that the private sector created more change in the world than the public sector," said Ron Lambert, a director of career services at Johns Hopkins, which has more than 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its schools in Washington and Baltimore. "That's starting to swing back, and people are seeing the government as playing a very important role in the future."

Applications for fall enrollment at the international studies school are up 20 percent this year from a year ago, and the deadline isn't until January.

While some people are heeding President Bush's call in November to accept "new responsibilities" in public service after the September terrorist attacks, others say they're thinking of making a career of it because companies have cut back on hiring.

"The job market has been so terrible that we as a graduating class are applying for everything," said Anjali Kaur, 25, one of 480 graduate students at Johns Hopkins' school of international affairs.

The economy has lost 936,000 jobs from January to November and probably will show the first annual decline since 1991, Labor Department figures show. Internet companies have lost their financial allure and workers are feeling edgy about losing their job for the first time in a decade. The economy hasn't lost more than 1 million jobs in one year since 1982.

It all adds up to an unfriendly environment for college students preparing to enter the work force.

By contrast, the floodgates to government jobs may be close to swinging open. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management projects that 613,000 permanent, non-postal executive branch employees, or about 40 percent of 1.6 million government employees as of this year, will retire during the next decade.

Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government could be a bellwether of the interest in federal jobs. The number of prospective students expressing interest in attending the school is up fourfold in the past three months, compared with the same period a year ago.

"There are yawning gaps of opportunity opening up in the public sector," said Michael Jung, 27, a student at the Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Applications for enrollment in the Kennedy School next fall aren't due until January, so it's too early for college admissions officials to determine whether rising curiosity will translate into a larger student body. Still, some early signs are encouraging academics, who have been aware that students were seeking better pay, opportunities for advancement and less bureaucracy in the private sector.

An October recruiting visit by the CIA drew 50 Kennedy School students, compared with the 15 to 20 that typically attend, said Steve Kelman, a professor at the school. About half the school's 200 students showed up for a government career fair last month. Applications for the government's Presidential Management Intern Program attracted 76 applications from Kennedy School students this year, up from 55 a year ago.

"Even at a place like the Kennedy School, which has a public service mission, we've had trouble attracting our students to government work," said Kelman. "Since Sept. 11, there are a lot of suggestions that that is changing."

The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, which includes programs at 23 universities, held graduate fairs in seven cities since mid-September. Attendance grew to 2,300 from 1,700 a year ago.